Book Review - Operation Norwind - Osprey

Good morning everyone.

Since I've started assembling my force for our Tale of winter Gamers, I've become acutely aware just how little I know about the bulge and more importantly (to me) my force and their place in Operation Nordwind.

I know that Battlefront do a great job on providing a decent level of information about the campaigns detailed in their books, but I wanted a little bit more.

So whilst my girlfriend was buying shoes I discovered this in a local bookshop, and decided to pick it up. (that and I had a book voucher...)


So what to make of it, firstly it's nicely set out, the book starts with a nice overview of how things were set up in the European Theater of Operations, the larger schemes and the personalities involved.


It moves from there to an understanding of the different force commanders involved, and the difficulties they faced, such as Tassigny (1ere Armee commander) and his relationships with the U.S commanders, and how Himmlers own lust for power led to disjointed axis plans.


The book then goes on to provide details about the forces involved and then detail the  planning and actions which formed operation Nordwind. Information about the terrain, the controversies around Strasbourg, and the almost entirely futile execution of the operation.

The book has really helped me understand the operation better, It really appeals to me in some ways, as I know that my force is doomed to fail, but they're going to make the American's pay for every centimeter of ground they want.

The writing is clear, the photo's plentiful, and some brilliant maps and drawings as well throughout the book to help illustrate what happened, it is really a pleasure to read.

The last thing is that it has actually shaped what models I want in my force. I'm going to rejig things to fit in some flammpanzers - they seem quite iconic to my forces in Nordwind. And my decision to have no artillery is also in keeping.

I hope you enjoyed this book review, it really has led to me thinking that maybe a little more research on my next force might be warranted.

Thanks for reading

Adam